Coupling mechanism of automatic teain pipe connecters



J. ROBINSON May 29, 1934.

COUPLING MECHANISM OF AUTOMATIC TRAIN PIPE CONNECTERS Original Filed March so, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Jasslfl Roam/501v a I I a I,

ATTORNEYS y ,1934- J. ROBINSON 1,961,110

COUPLING MECHANISM OF AUTOMATIC TRAIN PIPE CONNECTERS Original Filed March 30, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNV ENTOR L/OJfF/f Foam/501v a y 9 I I ATTORNEYS Fatented May 29, 1934 UNEED STATES rirr series GOUPLIN G MECHANESM OF AUTOMATIC TRAIN PIPE CONNEQTERS Canada Application March 30,

1931, Serial No. 526,494

Renewed October 21, 1933 10 Claims.

The primary object of my invention is to increase, and improve, the gathering, and the operative action, of automatic train pipe coupling heads without increasing the size of the gathering means of such heads. In my co-pencling application Serial #458,983, filed June 2, 1930 I show a ball and funnel butt face type of coupling head that has a much greater, and a more positive, gathering capacity than is found in other connecter heads of either the same dimensions, or even considerably greater dimensions, as regards the gathering parts. The increase and improvement in the gathering range of this ball and funnel head was obtained by placing the funnel member on the guardarm side of the coupler, the reverse of the position it theretofore occupied. It was not previously known that by placing the funnel member of this type of coupling head on the guardarm side of the car coupler, the head would have a greater gathering range in proportion to its size, and would in its operation be otherwise greatly improved. The car coupler in general use on American railways has a greater gathering range under conditions of disalignme nt toward its guardarm side than under conditions of disalignment toward its knuckle side. Therefore, by reversing the position of the funnel in the manner just described, the coupler gathering range, and that of the connecter head, were substantially equalized, and an impressive improvement in the operation of automatic connectors was secured.

In a series of exhaustive tests recently made this ball and funnel coupling head, arranged as described, surpassed all other coupling heads in uniformity of range of gathering, reliability in gathering, and capacity to protect itself, and its supporting means, against damage when car couplers either fail to couple or pass each other in service.

With a connecter coupling head of the type (angled face) shown in this present application, the funnel member cannot be located on the guardarm side of the car coupler, and thus equalize the lateral gathering range of the coupler and the connector, as in the case of my aforesaid copending application. The reason is that the coupling face of the present head is disposed obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the connector to provide the shortest route for the train pipe air in crossing from one car to the other. As the brake air line on all steam railway freight cars is located on the guardarrn side of the car coupler, it is not possible to locate the funnel of the present type of connector on that side of the coupler.

Desiring to gain for this angled face head, and

(Cl. Edd-58) for other types of coupling heads of automatic connecters, the advantages of great gathering range with unusual compactness, together with increased protective capacity for the head and its supporting means, such as are provided by the coupling head of my above co-pending application, research was carried on for many months in search of a means by which those advantages could be had. The simple solution here presented was finally discovered and refined to a commercial state. It consists in simply offsetting the coupling head laterally with respect to the center of the car coupler, and thus equalizing the gathering range of the car coupler and the connecter when the car couplers are operating under conditions of disalignment heretofore particularly difficult for the connecter heads to negotiate. This offset may be obtained either by setting the lower end of the bracket of the connector over to the right of the vertical center line of the coupler, that is toward the guardarm side, as shown in Figure l, or it may be obtained by olfsetting the connector head with respect to its supporting mechanism, as shown in the modification in Figure 7. Some connector heads or car couplers not now generally known may exist, as for instance in or for foreign or special service, whose particular construction might advise offsetting the head in this manner, or offsetting it in the opposite direction either by accordingly arranging the lower end of the bracket or changing this modified form to suit.

But regardless of which side of the vertical center line of the car coupler the connecter head is offset from, an important contributory to the general coupling and operative advantages of my present invention is found in the reduction in the extent which the connector head coupling face projects forward of the pulling face of the car coupler, and in the relationship between the length of the aligning pin or horn of the head and the depth of the funnel of the head, and also in the relationship between the resistance of the buffer spring and the bearing area of the supporting flange, or stop member, that is held against the back of the bracket by the buffer spring.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a pair of car couplers such as is used generally on American steam railways, in the act of coupling under a condition of extreme disalignment toward the guardarm side. It is when angled in this direction that the open knuckles of the opposing couplers come into engagement, and for that reason give the couplers their greatest gathering range laterally. The reason for this is that the knuckles engage first and roll or shift the couplers into alignment carrying with them the automatic connecter;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same car couplers in the act of coupling when angled in the opposite direction, that is toward their respective knuckle sides. This position, when combined with substantial vertical variation in coupler heights, is a difficult position for an automatic train pipe connecter head to negotiate;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of my improved train pipe connecter attached to a car coupler of the type shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this view a part of the coupler is broken away, and the universal joint of the connecter is shown partly in section;

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation through a part of the car coupler, and through the connecter support on about the line i4 of Figure 3. In this View the spring seat forming a part of the connecter support, is omitted;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the construction shown in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a. vertical section through the funnel member of the coupling head on about the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a sectional plan view through the coupling head and supporting means of my improvement, showing a modification thereof which consists in oifsetting the coupling head with respect to its supporting means, and

Figure 8 is a sectional front elevation through the yoke member of my improvement on approximately the line 8-8 of Figure 3. In this view the bracket and the buffer spring are omitted.

Referring more particularly to the drawings: As aforesaid, the increase and improvement in the gathering range, and the protective capacities, of the coupling head A of this application, are obtained by offsetting the head with respect to the center line 10, Figures 4 and 7, of the car coupler B so that the center of the gasket 11 in the coupling head will lie to one side, preferably to the right, of the center line of the coupler, that is, toward the guardarm side of the coupler. This is accomplished either by setting the lower portion of the bracket C over in the direction desired, see for instance Figure 4C, or by offsetting the head A on the forward end of its supporting yoke or member D in the direction and to the amount desired, as shown in Figure '7, Unless this is done, the ball or horn 12 of the coupling head of the higher car will engage the face of the lower coupling head outside of the funnel 14 at about the point X, Figure 5, when a coupling is attempted under the conditions of Figure 2 combined with a vertical variation of 4" to 5". A coupling failure will be the result. On the other hand if the coupling heads are offset as herein described, each to the extent of about A", the heads will engage at about the point Y, which is approximately 1 to the left and well inside the mouth of the funnel. Easy and correct gathering of the connecter heads is the certain and continuous result.

This favorable action is enhanced by making the ball member 12 of the coupling head A very short, see Figures 3 and '7, (preferably so that it will lie behind the front face of the open coupler knuckle B as in Figure 3), and. the inner walls of the funnel member 14 exceptionally abrupt, Figure 6. This enables the connecter heads to get very close to each other before being called upon to do any aligning, the car couplers having meanwhile gotten well into their gathering or aligning operation, carrying the connecters with them. The abrupt angle of the inner walls of the funnel member would cause the coupling heads to angle or cock upwardly or downwardly when engaging under conditions of sharp angularity combined with considerable vertical variation, such as shown and described in references to Figures 1 and 2, unless a buffer spring E, placed under an initial compression of around 560 pounds in assembling, and having a resistance rate of around 350 pounds per inch of compression, is employed in combination with a flange 15 that is relatively wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, as shown. This arrangement of spring resistance and co-acting bracket and flange members gives a maximum resistance to lateral movement of the lower connecter head, when the heads engage at about the point Y, Figure 5, under the conditions previously explained, whilst allowing the higher head to swing inwardly and downwardly and permit its ball or nose 12 to slip well into the funnel of the opposing head from the point Y before such opposing head moves appreciably from the position it occupies when the heads first engage.

It will be clear that greater assurance of coupling is in this way obtained, since with ball and funnel (pin and funnel) connecter heads of the general type here disclosed, once the ball 12 properly enters the funnel 14 the heads must come to correct coupled position if the resistance of the buffer spring E is in proper ratio to the angle and vertical variable at which the coupling heads meet, and in proper ratio also to the abruptness of the flare of the inner walls of the funnel. The controlling consideration is to get the ball or nose of the opposing coupling head to enter the funnel at the beginning of the coupling act, and then by proper resistance in the supporting means to induce the heads to move in the direction desired. This is very effectually accomplished by the simple and inexpensive means constituting the present invention. Inasmuch as the coupling heads are each disaligned laterally, toward the guardarm side in the present construction, it follows that the connecter heads will not pass as often, when the car couplers slip by on the guardarm side, as they would if the connecter heads were located on the vertical center line of the car coupler. In consequence the connecter heads will often couple under this further extreme condition. Therefore inasmuch as connecters built in accordance with my invention will couple properly under conditions where except for the improvements herein they would fail and in consequence impose severe strains on the supporting mechanism, the present invention enables the coupling head to protect such supporting mechanism.

Any suitable means for permitting universal movement of the coupling head A of my improvement, and for yieldingly sustaining the same, may be employed. I show a suitable seat or pivot member 16, made of any desired metal as for instance bronze, mounted on a cylindrical seat 1'7 for rocking movement thereon between the laterally extending crossbars or lugs 18 of the lower portion of the bracket. Suitable shoulders 19 formed on the bracket support the pivot block against vertical shifting. On the front face of the pivot block I mount a spring seat 20 for pivotal movement in a plane at to the plane in which the member 16 pivots. The spring seat is slotted at either side, shown particularly at 21 in Figure 8, to receive the spaced members or straps 220i the yoke D which span the pivot block 16 and terminate at the rear end in the vertically disposed fiange 15 that is normal y held against the back of the bracket by the tension of the buffer spring E. At its forward end the yoke is pivotally suitably connected to the rear of the coupling head A as by the pivot 23, Figure 7. pivot arrangement is employed to permit the coupling head to yield or rotate with respect to the yoke when the car couplers pass each other, they occasionally do in service, and thus protect the connecter head and its supporting means against damage. A sleeve 24 extends into the forward end of the spring E and over a part of the front end of the yoke, this part being preferably described as the yoke head or eye 25. It is suitably threaded and locked to the yoke as shown, and on its underside is provided with a flat surface to engage a complementary lug 24a in the sleeve 24 to prevent the latter from rotating on the yoke head.

To facilitate the exit of snow and ice and other foreign matter from the funnel i l I form large openings 26 between the supporting lugs or seats 27 which extend into the path of the opening in the apex of the funnel, as shown. particularly in Figure 5. In addition I give these lugs 27 the general shape of a V in cross-section to further prevent accumulation of foreign substance on their faces to such extent as might interfere with said proper seating of the connecter gaskets. This construction of these lugs is best illustrated in Figure 6. lihe wide upwardly extending pro- .iections or bearing surfaces 28, Figure 5, of the coupling head A reduces the strain on the various parts of the connecter, and facilitates the coupling act, by affording a long lever arm or fulcrum for locking the heads into alignment under sever conditions of displacement.

It will be understood the supporting bracket C may be secured to the car coupler lug F, or to another part of the coupler, in any desired manner as for instance by bolts or rivets 29. The train pipe hose 30, leading from the train line to the connecter, is attached to the latter, and to the fitting which carries the gasket 11, in any suitable manner. The fitting is shown at 31 in Figures 3 and 5, and is preferably removably mounted in the head A.

To the specific features of improvement in the supporting means of my present invention no claim is herein made, the right being reserved to file a separate application or applications divisional hereof on such features.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, an automatic car coupler and an automatic train pipe hose connecter both secured to a railway car one above the other, the car coupler and the coupling head of said connecter having ordinarily unequal lateral gathering range under some conditions, and means for yieldingly supporting said coupling head with its vertical center line oifset toward the guard arm side of the coupler whereby the lateral gathering range of the coupling head is made substantially equal to the lateral gathering range of the car coupler when the coupler is disaligned vertically.

2. In combination, an automatic car coupler and an automatic train pipe hose connecter both secured to a railway car one above the other, the car coupler and the coupling head of said connecter having ordinarily unequal lateral gathering range under some conditions, and means for yieldingly supporting said coupling head with its vertical center line offset toward the guard arm side of the coupler whereby the lateral gathering range of the coupling head is made substantially equal to the lateral gathering range of the car coupler when the coupler is substantially disaligned vertically, supporting 'means being attached to said coupler.

3. In combination. an automatic car coupler and an automa c train pipe hose connecter both secured to a railway car one above the other, the car coupler and the coupling head of said con-- neuter having ordinarily unequal gatherin range under some conditions, said coupling head having its coupling face disposed obliquely to the longttudinal d'ection of said connecter, means attached to said coupler for yieldingly supporting said coupling head with its vertical center line offset toward the guard arm side of the coupler whereby the lateral gathering range of the coupling head is substantially equal to the lat gathering range of the car coupler when the coupler is considerably disaligned vertically, and a pivot for ermitting said coupling head to pivot on the forward end of said supporting means when opposing car coupler slip by in service.

in bination, an automatic oar coupler and an automatic train pipe hose connecter both secured to a railway car one above the other, the car coupler and the coupling head of said connecter having ordinarily unequal lateral gathering range under some conditions, the forwardmost point of said coupling head being at all times in the rear of the front face of the car coupler knuckle when the knuckle is in the open position, and means attach d to said coupler for yieldingly supporting said coupling head with its vertical center line offset toward the guard arm side of the coupler whereby the lateral gathering range of the coupling head is made substantially equal to the lateral gathering range of the car coupler when the coupler is considerably disaligned vertically.

5. Coupling mechanism comprising the combination with an automatic car coupler having the usual knuckle and guard-arm sides, of a train hose connecter having a coupling head into which the hose terminates, the coupling head comprising a funnel member, a ball member and a gasket for the termination of the hose, the ecupling head being offset sufficiently to position the gasket and ball member laterally of the vertical center line of the car coupler and toward guard arm side thereof to an extent sufiicient to equalize any inequalities in the gathering ranges of the car coupler and coupling head when the car coupler is vertically disaligned.

6. Coupling mechanism comprising the combination with an automatic car coupler, of a train pipe hose connecter having a coupling head into which the hose terminates, the coupling head comprising a forwardly extending receiving member and an entering member, and instrumentalities for laterally displacing the coupling head toward the guard arm side sufilciently for the receiving member to extend laterally across the vertical center line of the car coupler and for equalizing the lateral gathering ranges of the receiving member and the car coupler under conditions of operation.

7. Coupling mechanism comprising the combination with an automatic car coupler having the usual knuckle and guard-arm sides, of a train pipe hose connecter having a coupling head into which the hose terminates, the car coupler and coupling head having unequal gathering range under operating conditions, and instrumentalities for offsetting the coupling head towards the guard arm side of the coupler so that the vertical center of the coupling head. is disposed laterally away from the vertical center of the car coupler, whereby the lateral gathering range of the coupling head is made substantially equal to the lateral gathering range of the car coupler when the said car coupler is Vertically disaligned.

8, Coupling mechanism comprising the combination with an automatic car coupler having the usual knuckle and guard-arm sides, of a train pipe hose connecter having a coupling head, and means for supporting the coupling head from the coupler with the vertical center line of the coupling head disposed laterally away from the vertical center line of the coupler towards the guardarm side t ereof, to an extent sufficient to equalize the gathering ranges of the car coupler and coupling head when the car coupler is vertically disaligned.

9. Coupling mechanism comprising the combination with a car coupler, of a train pipe hose connector having a receiving member and an entering member, and instrumentalities for oil?- setting the coupling head toward the guard arm side sufliciently for the receiving member to extend laterally across the vertical center line of the car coupler to thereby equalize the lateral gathering ranges of the receiving member and the car coupler under conditions of operation.

10. Coupling mechanism comprising the combination with an automatic car coupler having the usual knuckle and guard arm sides, of a train pipe hose connecter having a coupling head into which the hose terminates, the said coupling head comprising a shallow funnel member having wide flat surfaces at the top and bottom and a short pin member having a broad blunt nose, the car coupler and coupling head having unequal gathering range under operating conditions, and mounting instrumentalities for supporting the coupling head ofiset towards the guard arm side of the coupler so that the vertical center of the coupling head is disposed laterally away from the vertical center of the car coupler, whereby the lateral gathering range of the coupling head is made substantially equal to the lateral gathering range of the car coupler when the said oar coupler is vertically disaligned.

JOSEPH ROBINSON. 

